In a Funny Car, the engine is placed in front of the driver.
That front-engine layout is one of the defining distinctions between a Funny Car and a traditional dragster, whose engine sits behind the driver. Funny Cars use a custom-fabricated chassis covered by a tilt-up fiberglass or carbon-fiber body shaped to resemble a production car.
The class developed in the mid-1960s from altered-wheelbase Super Stock and A/FX cars. Moving the axles and shifting weight rearward improved traction, while later tube-frame and “flopper” designs made the cars much more specialized. The engine remains ahead of the cockpit even though the body shell can make the vehicle look like a conventional road car.
Modern Funny Cars use supercharged V8 engines limited by NHRA rules to 500 cubic inches, or about 8.2 liters. They burn a nitromethane-heavy fuel mixture and use parachutes, roll cages and other safety equipment. Unlike the engine placement, their showroom-style bodies are largely aerodynamic shells rather than ordinary street-car structures.